 |
| Pictured: Not a technical genius, but a man beloved by fans |
Mike Quackenbush is known as "The Man of 1000 Holds". He's probably the best pure technical wrestler in America right now given his encyclopedic knowledge and precision application of nearly every hold and move in differing styles from Japanese junior heavyweight to British World of Sport mat wrestling. He literally could have a great match against any opponent outside of someone who is greener than goose shit and can't wrestle even a basic match without blowing up or botching half the basic moves (that means Mason Ryan is out). While this has earned him the admiration of wrestling fans such as myself and the legions of Chikara devotees who marvel at the things he can do in the ring, well, the technical prowess doesn't always translate into positive fan reactions.
Case in point, his match against Eddie Kingston at High Noon was a perfect example of how his own mastery worked against him. Early on in the match, Quack slid out of the ring to slam Kingston's chronically injured knee against the apron in a way to gain an upper hand in his quest to win the Grand Championship. As soon as the knee hit the canvas, the boos started pouring in. While Quack, the character, was baffled at the reaction, my guess is that Quack, the booker, knew the crowd would react that way.
Why is that? Why is working over a man's chronic weakness considered such a dastardly move? For as bloodthirsty as wrestling crowds or sporting crowds in general are painted, there's always a certain mercy that they have for the people they like, and if one wrestler is seen as exploiting an injury, well, they're just being vicious and ruthless, two qualities that are associated with the bad guys. Never mind that it's smart strategy to weaken a body part in order to further ensure victory. I think it also speaks to the fact that superior entities like Ivan Drago or the Clew Heyward-led New York Yankees are almost never the heroes in film, but scrappers like Rocky Balboa or the Cleveland Indians are. Dominance is almost frowned upon in a sense. Forget that Kingston himself has been as dominant as they come in Chikara competition over the last two years; he's also done his winning in a gritty, scrappy, blue collar fashion.
That's why people who clamor for Daniel Bryan to go on a dominant tear as a supreme technical wrestler as part of a hero's run are a bit misinformed. It's not that it's automatic that the fans would boo him for being portrayed as so much better than everyone. Bryan has charisma and is special enough that he could diffuse some of that aversion to elitism with his down-to-earth charm. Making people like Dolph Ziggler and Mark Henry squeal in his submission holds would be pleasing to the crowd as well.
That being said, what'd happen if he went into a match with another hero or someone the fans generally enjoyed, like CM Punk or John Cena (females and kids only) or Randy Orton? What would happen if in a longer PPV match, he started working a body part with vigor? Would the fans still enjoy him, or would they turn on him? That question is hard to answer without predictive context, but at the same time, strong, elite characters hardly ever come off as likable in those actions. Quack proved that on a small scale Sunday.
For Bryan, the scrappy underdog who's underrated with his submission holds that come out of nowhere work for him as a fan favorite. Alberto del Rio has a submission finisher too, and he spends all match building towards it. Is it fair that that's the case? Well, maybe, maybe not, but no one can control what the fans like.
It's unfortunate, but people generally don't appreciate excellence in a neutral situation. That's why it's so hard for the technical wizard character to get over as a hero, and why ruthlessly exploiting an injury works so well as a heel technique. Mike Quackenbush knew it, and that's why he wrestled the match he did at High Noon.
Maybe that, more than any of his holds he knows, is what makes Quack such a great wrestler.
Photo Credit: Zia Hiltey - Please visit her Flickr site to view her excellent photography from Chikara to everything else.
